tac issues
DESCRIPTION
TAC issues. Letizia Stanghellini NOAO 16 June 2008 – Science with Giant Telescopes. The NOAO TAC. The NOAO TAC system deals with the community access to: The national observatories (KPNO, CTIO) Gemini (international partnership) Public and private partnership observatories - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The NOAO TAC
– The NOAO TAC system deals with the community access to:•The national observatories (KPNO, CTIO)•Gemini (international partnership)•Public and private partnership observatories
– NOAO + university partners (e.g., WIYN, SOAR)– NOAO public time on Keck, Magellan, MMT, HET via TSIP
– NOAO TAC science-based; observers request selection of telescopes/instruments offered, based on their science needs
– TAC Members chosen from the community at large, based on scientific excellence
TAC models
– Single observatory•International partners
– ESO (one OPC, national partners shares expected to be fulfilled- members selected from member counties)
– Gemini (national TACs, ITAC to oversee queue/shares/ToO )
•Multi-partners– Keck, Magellan, WIYN (member TACs, no super-TAC, no general ToO policy except for public access)
TAC models – ground based obs.
• Partner TACs plus observatory TAC (i.e., super-TAC)– Oversight of science policies, control over science time especially ToO
– Lesser partners are disadvantaged (especially if queue modes are used, since availability of specific weather conditions is limited)
• Pre-determined shares and partner TACs– Limited scientific oversight– Partners more likely to get their fair share
Distribution of the size of scheduled programs
Telescope aperture < 6m (KP, CT, WIYN, SOAR)
Telescope aperture > 6m(GEM and TSIP)
Note the evolution toward smaller programs
Scheduled programs by team size
Over time, the number of large(>5 people) teams is almost invariant for proposals requestingsmall apertures, while it increases for those requesting large apertures